Nanotechnology: Bringing Medicine To Another Level

Nov.06, 2009 in Technology and Gadgets

It’s a time where the lines between computer support and human support are changing. In Nassau County computer repair means humans fixing computers. In Suffolk County computer repair means humans fixing computers. But in the halls of many major universities studies are underway that would turn that notion on its head. Computer repair would mean vital body immune response would be carried out by miniature computers. Nanotechnology has evolved and it is poised to change everything. An area most affected will be in medical technology.

Nanotechnology is the use of technology using miniscule materials. A nanometer is a unit of dimension. Nanotechnology useunits running between 1 and 100 nanometers. If you took 800,000 nanometers and set them side by side it would be about the width of a hair. That’s small stuff. Being able to operate and manipulate elements at such a small level holds great potential benefit in the medical arena. Many institutions and researchers are engaged in exciting studies that could lead to a major revolution in health care. Some advances are already happening.

Currently there are many different studies using nanotechnology in a variety of ways. One area of interest is in how nanotechnology can help in diagnosing and treating cancer. A major downside to cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, is that it can’t specifically target only cancer cells. Healthy and unhealthy cells are attacked. With nanotechnology specific cells can be targeted. There are theories and trials that employee RNA strands that can locate and connect to cancer cells. Once attached these strands can release anti-cancer agents into the afflicted cells. Other studies have focused on creating a color coding system using nanotechnology that would create protein indicators that would find and link to cancer cells for easy identification. An additional application nanotechnology in the fight against cancer is nanoshells. Nanoshells are made of minute beads with various densities made of gold. These shells are attracted to cancer cells, surround them and then are heated with near infrared light which destroys the cancer cells, but spares the nearby healthy cells not surrounded by nanoshells.

Nanodevices would be tiny enough to operate inside a cell. They would be little enough that they could interact with proteins and DNA. Nanodevices could monitor the cell and detect disease using a smaller quantity of cell tissue. Changes in cell tissue indicating disease could be monitored and detected much earlier in the process. Because fighting cancer successfully depends on early detection, this would be a major advance in cancer fighting technology.

Nanotechnology is a rapidly developing area of science that utilizes a wide array of disciplines including; physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and many other sciences including political and social science. With ongoing discoveries in all different fields, the world of Nanotechnology will be fully upon us.